Why did I bring this up? Not sure, probably because I’m off of dairy right now so milk and ice cream sound really good. Also, who doesn’t drink milk? (I’m counting people who put it on their cereal.) Everyone probably has a favorite: 2%, skim, low-fat, non-fat, whole, raw, etc. I didn’t know there were so many kinds. My favorite would be raw, whole milk that hasn’t been touched. Oh, man, it is good. If I get to the jug first (before someone shakes it), all the cream is on top and that is the best!
First off, some people don’t even know what raw milk is. I guess you could call it “fresh milk.” In other words it is milk right off the farm. It is natural at this state and is how God intended it to be.
You’re probably sitting there going, “Yuck, how gross, disgusting, and fattening.” If you are, then you’ve never had real milk, don’t know the health benefits, or you’re my sister. Really 2%, non-fat, and skimmed milk is just water mixed with flour (to make it white.) I’m just kidding. And milk that comes in a box, well, just throw it in the trash.
I didn’t realize how spoiled I was until we were at a camp. At each meal they had boxed milk for anyone. At home, my dad usually made chocolate milk by putting syrup in raw milk. So, of course, when he saw chocolate milk he had to drink it. And I have to take my sip which is considered a glug. This stuff tastes like dirty water. No joke. Needless to say I didn’t drink anymore. It was just awful.
Until this point I have given you my personal opinion and you don’t have to necessary believe it. But after looking it up on the Internet, I found out that the cow’s milk is healthy, and if it’s been handled properly, the milk comes out of the cow naturally filled with “good” bacteria – the kind that eats bad bacteria. It is the kind of milk you want to drink. In early studies involving humans, raw milk was shown to be superior to pasteurized in protecting against infection, diarrhea, rickets, tooth decay and TB.
So, what is pasteurization? I know, it is a long word. Pasteurization is where the milk is briefly heated above 118 degrees (Fahrenheit) in order to kill any bacteria, which destroys any potential value raw milk could provide. So you end up taking out 66% of vitamins A, D, and E. Vitamin C loss is over 50%. Heat affects water soluble vitamins and can make them 38 to 80% less effective. Vitamins B6 and B12 are completely destroyed during pasteurization. Pasteurization also destroys beneficial enzymes, antibodies and hormones. It destroys lipase (an enzyme that breaks down fat), which impairs fat metabolism and the ability to properly absorb fat soluble vitamins A and D.
By now you should know that although the dairy industry claims this is good for the milk, it isn’t at all. If you look at all the good stuff milk loses when it is pasteurized, you will see some of the benefits of raw milk. Sometimes you can’t get raw milk where you live so the next best thing is whole milk. The less they touch it, the better. I’ve been blessed to live 30 minutes from a friend who has a dairy. I have been impressed with everything we’ve gotten from them.
Another thing they do to the milk before it reaches the bottle is Homogenization. When milk is homogenized, it passes through a fine filter at pressures equal to 4000 pounds per square inch, and in doing so, the fat globules (liposomes) are made smaller (micronized) by a factor of ten times or more. These fat molecules become evenly dispersed within the liquid milk.
Milk is a hormonal delivery system. When the milk is homogenization it becomes a very powerful and efficient way of bypassing normal digestive processes and delivering steroid and protein hormones to the human body.
After homogenization, fat molecules in the milk become smaller. Proteins that would normally be digested in the stomach are not broken down, and are absorbed into the bloodstream. The homogenization process breaks up an enzyme, called xanthine oxidase, which when it is in the bloodstream it reacts against arterial walls causing the body to protect the area with a layer of cholesterol. This is an ongoing basis that doesn’t stop.
In theory, proteins are easily broken down by digestive processes. In reality, homogenization insures their survival so that they enter the bloodstream and deliver their messages. Often, the body reacts to foreign proteins that resemble a human protein; they can become triggers for autoimmune diseases. Diabetes, cancer, and M.S. are some examples.
If you would like to read more on this topic you can type it into the Internet.
Now that you’re done reading this you can probably guess that I totally recommend raw milk and I think you should only use that or whole milk. With all that to say, I might as well tell you I like goat’s milk just as well. But that is a whole different topic.
~Susanna
